Israel Criticizes Lamine Yamal for Waving Palestinian Flag at Barcelona Parade

Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Ahmed Abu Hameeda)

JAKARTA - The Israeli Minister of Defense criticized Barcelona's young star, Lamine Yamal, for waving the Palestinian flag when the Catalan club celebrated its success in winning the Spanish League football competition.

Israeli Defense Minister Katz wrote in a post on social media that Lamal's actions "incited hatred."

"Lamine Yamal chose to incite hatred against Israel while our soldiers are fighting the Hamas terrorist organization, an organization that slaughtered, raped, and burned Jewish children, women, and parents on October 7 (2023)," wrote Israel Katz on X on Thursday, launching The Associated Press (15/5).

Yamal, 18, waved a large Palestinian flag from an open-top bus during Barcelona's team's victory parade through the city on Monday. The parade drew an estimated 750,000 people to celebrate the league title won the day before, local authorities said.

Yamal himself uploaded a photo of himself holding the flag on his Instagram account.

The Spanish government and most of its population are highly critical of Israel's military operations that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza in response to Hamas' surprise 2023 offensive.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who had previously called for Israel to be banned from sporting events for its actions in Gaza, defended Yamal on social media.

"Those who consider waving the flag of a country to be 'inciting hatred' have lost their common sense or are blinded by their own shame," PM Sanchez wrote on X.

"Lamine only expresses solidarity with the Palestinians that millions of Spaniards feel. Another reason to be proud of him," he concluded.

There has been a global reaction to Israel over the humanitarian impact of the war in Gaza, which has spread to sports and culture. Protests have been seen in football, cycling, and basketball. Last year's Vuelta a Espana was repeatedly disrupted by protesters angry at the participation of an Israeli-backed cycling team.

Spain is also one of five countries boycotting this year's Eurovision Song Contest in protest at Israel's participation.